Senators working on new Syria plan

A powerful group of senators is quietly drafting a new proposal that could forestall military action in Syria if the country relinquishes its chemical weapon stockpile, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.

The plan could emerge as a critical alternative for the White House, which has been struggling to rally congressional support for a proposal to carry out “limited” military strikes against the Syrian regime within 90 days. The group working on the new plan includes Republican defense hawks, a powerful committee chairman, a key Democratic leader and important swing votes — meaning it could pick up steam as a crucial alternative to the use-of-force resolution that is awaiting action in the Senate.

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The GOP senators in the group include John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. The Democratic senators include Chuck Schumer of New York, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Chris Coons of Delaware and Carl Levin of Michigan. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the Foreign Relations Committee chairman who authored the use-of-force resolution, is involved in the talks as well. The White House is being kept apprised of the discussions, sources say.

The broad outlines of the plan would call for the United Nations to pass a resolution asserting that Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria used chemical weapons in the country’s ongoing civil war. A UN team would be required to remove the chemical weapons within a specified timeframe. If the weapons were unable to be removed within that timetable, then the United States would be authorized to use military force against the country, the source said Tuesday. The timeline is still being hammered out by the group.

“Days,” Casey said when asked how long the timetable should be. “If they can meet the demands that we would incorporate in this kind of a resolution, then this breakthrough might be real.”

Menendez said Tuesday that the new plan could be offered as an amendment to the use-of-force resolution on the floor. But Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations panel, said Congress should “hit pause” on moving any Syria resolution until the validity of a proposal from Russia is determined.

The fast-moving developments are in response to a Russian offer Monday that Syria should give up its chemical weapons in order to avoid the prospects of military strikes. Press reports Tuesday indicated that the Syrian Foreign Minister said his government would accept the Russian proposal. The developments also come as President Barack Obama addressed senators in the Capitol Tuesday before a high-stakes speech to a public highly skeptical about another military conflict in the Middle East. Obama said Monday he was open to the offer, and the White House is signaling the president would engage in United Nations discussions over the Russian proposal.

In the Capitol Monday night, Graham said Syria should be given a week to give up its chemical weapons since he was “highly dubious and skeptical” of the Russian proposal.

“The way to test them is to put a time limit on them,” Graham told POLITICO.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid signaled that the discussions between the United States and Russia would continue to influence how the chamber moves forward.

“The Senate should give these international discussions time to play out, but not unlimited time,” Reid said Tuesday.

The legislative and diplomatic developments come at an opportune time for the Obama administration. Polls show big majorities of the American public oppose military intervention in Syria. In Congress, the president’s own party has grown increasingly opposed to the use-of-force resolution in both the House and the Senate. Republicans are largely opposed to the use-of-force resolution, underscored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement Tuesday he would vote against the measure.

As McConnell announced he was against military action, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he was “skeptical” of Russia’s new involvement, but added diplomacy is “always the better outcome.”

“I’m skeptical of it because of the actors that are involved, simple as that,” Boehner told reporters after a closed meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday.

Indeed, the administration sees the Russia proposal as a potential win-win in that it brings Moscow more into the arena to try to resolve the Syria crisis and it puts Obama in the light of being willing to pursue diplomacy as an alternative to military action.